Alfred Wins in OT; Bombers Score Late TD; Big Fourth Quarter for Fisher

9/28/2013 10:00:33 PM

Alfred 34, Brockport 28 OT (Box Score)
The Alfred University football team rallied from a four-touchdown deficit to defeat host Brockport, 34-28, in overtime Saturday night.

Down 28-0 at the half, the Saxons scored 14 points in each of the final two quarters to tie the game at 28-28. After stopping Brockport on the host team’s first possession of overtime, the Saxons scored the game-winning points on a 21-yard TD pass from freshman quarterback Tyler Johnson to senior wide receiver Jonathan Ruffin on the Saxons’ second play of the extra session.

Each team had a chance to win in regulation, but missed potential game-winning field goals – Brockport from 35 yards with2:23left and AU from 22 yards as time expired in the fourth.

Alfred finished with 499 yards of offense, while Brockport produced 387. Johnson had a monster game, rushing for 134 yards on 15 carries, with two touchdowns, and completed 11 of 17 passes for 157 yards – all in one half of play. DeRosa ran for 39 yards and Phillips had six catches for 167 yards. Sophomore tight end Isiah Young added four catches for 56 yards and Ruffin had two for 49.  FULL STORY

Ithaca 24, Buffalo State 20 (Box Score)
The Ithaca College football team relied on three big scoring plays and capped a thrilling ending with a 30-yard touchdown pass with 22 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to remain undefeated on the season and started Empire 8 play with a 24-20 win at Buffalo State on Saturday afternoon. The first two Ithaca touchdowns were 63-yard scores, and a 30-yard touchdown pass from Phil Neumann to Vito Boffoli proved to be the decisive score as Ithaca improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Empire 8. The Bengals are 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the Empire 8.

After Ithaca saw a 17-7 lead erased by the Bengals with two late fourth-quarter touchdowns, the Bombers took possession at their own 28 with 1:05 remaining and moved 42 yards in three plays on consecutive completed passes. After one incompletion, Neumann found Boffoli in the middle of the field and Boffoli broke two tackles and raced through the Bengal secondary for the winning touchdown.

Boffoli finished with career-best totals of five receptions for 68 yards and the 30-yard score was the longest reception and first receiving touchdown of his career.

Buffalo State's Casey Kacz finished the day 24 of 44 for 262 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Rich Pete had 143 total yards with 91 yards on 15 rushes and a touchdown and also had five catches for 52 yards. Mike Doherty finished with six grabs for 79 yards, and Ryan Carney had seven catches for 67 yards. Shaq Frederick had a team-high nine tackles, and Brian Greene registered two of the team's four sacks.

Buffalo State outgained Ithaca 362-261 for the game, including 245-121 in the second half, but big plays on special teams and the late drive by the Bombers proved to be the difference. FULL STORY 


St. John Fisher 33, Cortland 25 (Box Score)
Nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College orchestrated three consecutive touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to erase a 17-14 deficit against SUNY Cortland, Saturday at Growney Stadium en route to a 33-25 win in a non-conference Division III matchup.

With the win, the Cardinals, ranked 18^th in the latest d3football.com poll, improve to 3-0, while the Red Dragons slip to 1-2 on the season.

Facing a three-point hole going into the fourth quarter, Fisher marched 85 yards on nine plays to take the lead for good.  Tyler Fenti took the snap and handed the ball off to Ryan Kramer on an end-around with Kramer lofting the ball downfield and found Nathan Nigolian for the 36-yard reception, setting the Cardinals up for the score. Two players later, Nigolian out-leaped a Cortland defender in the corner of the endzone to put Fisher up 20-17.

In Cortland's next possession, the Red Dragons looked to regain the momentum, but committed their first turnover of the day with Fisher's Dalton Donk recovering a fumble off a botched pitch and running it back to the Cortland 17 yard line.  It only took Fisher's offense 1:34 to convert on another touchdown, this time Kramer used his feet to find pay dirt, giving Fisher the two-possession lead at 27-17.

Just two offensive plays later, Cortland would lose the ball again. Quarterback Tyler Hughes looked for daylight, but was chased down from behind by Mason Judd who lodged the ball loose, which was quickly recovered by Fisher's Ryan Ballard.

The Cardinals wasted no time capitalizing on the turnover.  Fenti launched the ball 28 yards downfield into the waiting hands of Nigolian for another Fisher first down. Cody Miller made his way into the endzone for the fourth time this season, as Fisher scored three touchdowns on three consecutive possessions to take a 33-17 advantage. FULL STORY